Flowers and other items have been
placed in a park on Thursday, February 23rd, in memory of a Tiger
shot and killed Wednesday morning. Wildlife officials shot and killed the
425-pound tiger after it had been roaming the area's hills for at least three
weeks. The Tiger was tracked, then shot and killed in a ravine by MillerPark. The park has become a gathering place for
people mourning the tiger's death.

Authorities are attempting to determine
who owned the tiger. A resident on nearby property had 5 big cats, but held
permits for 6. The man told NBC4 that the Tiger killed Wednesday was not his
cat. Troy Swaugert of the California Department of Fish and Game stated,
"We're still looking, we're still investigating, we're still trying to
connect all the dots to bring us to whatever conclusion we can.”

LornaBernard, a Spokeswoman for the California Department
of Fish and Game stated that the Tiger was shot several hundred yards from
soccer and baseball fields at the edge of a housing development. "It's
unfortunate that we had to kill it." "It's even more unfortunate
that the person who owned it didn't come forward and alert us immediately.
We might have been able to capture it."

Trackers with the U.S. Department
of Agriculture's Wildlife Services and State Fish and Game had to shoot to
kill because a tranquilizer would have taken five to 10 minutes to bring down
the animal. They were concerned the animal might attack them or bolt onto
a nearby highway. The trackers had been looking for the animal for 8 days,
using infrared equipment at night. They had set traps with goat meat and chicken.

The hunt began after the discovery
of paw prints on a ranch near the library that were far too large for native
Bobcats or Mountain Lions. The size of the tracks indicated the animal weighed
as much as 600 pounds.

Results of a necropsy completed
Thursday are not yet available.

A federal court
hearing is set for September 5th to allow Gert ‘Abby’ Hedengran
and Roena ‘Emma’ Hedengran to admit their role leading up to and following
the February 2005 shooting of a tiger the former Tierra Rejada Valley couple
owned, that escaped and was shot and killed in Moorpark on February 22, 2005.

(Photo courtesy of KarenQuincy Loberg/Star staff file photo)
A VenturaCounty Sheriff's Department helicopter
lifts a 352-pound tiger after it was killed in Moorpark on Feb.
22, 2005. Officials cited public safety as their reason for
choosing to shoot rather than tranquilize the animal.

Officials have alleged
that the couple owned the 352-pound tiger and purposely misled investigators
during the weeklong search that stretched from Simi Valley to the Santa RosaValley. Professional trackers believed the tiger
had been on the run for 3 weeks, based on paw prints, before they caught up
with it in a city park near two schools, homes and busy Highway 23. The Tiger
was shot rather than tranquilized based on public safety reasons.

(Photo courtesy of JuanCarlo / Star staff file photo)Professional trackers
believe the tiger had been on the run for three weeks, based on paw prints,
before they caught up with it in a city park near two schools, homes and busy
Highway 23.

(Photo
courtesy of KarenQuincy Loberg/Star staff file photo)A VenturaCounty Sheriff's Department helicopter
lifts a 352-pound tiger after it was killed in Moorpark on Feb.
22, 2005. Officials cited public safety as their reason for
choosing to shoot rather than tranquilize the animal.

When the search
began for the tiger’s owners, authorities turned their attention to the Hedengrans
who had recently moved to the area from Temecula. The couple had brought
with them nearly 24 exotic cats that included African lions, tigers and lynxes.
Federal Agents arrested the couple on March
16, 2005 and they were later
released on their own recognizance after being charged in connection with
the shooting. Initial charges carried a maximum sentence of 60 years in federal
prison for GertHedengran and as much as 10 years in federal prison
for RoenaHedengran. The couple has repeatedly denied owning
the tiger.

The Hedengrans,
who now live outside Las
Vegas, were expected to plead
guilty to various animal welfare counts and other charges, but U.S. District
Judge George H. King decided he needed more time to review the agreement before
proceeding ahead.

Update:

The owners of a Tiger that was
shot and killed as it roamed the hills of Simi Valley 2 years ago have pled guilty to several federal
charges related to the animal's escape. Gert "Abby" Hedengran pled
guilty to obstruction of justice, making false statements and failing to maintain
proper records as part of a plea deal with Prosecutors. His wife Roena "Emma"
Hedengran pled guilty to a misdemeanor count of failing to maintain records
of exotic felines.

The Hedengrans, now living in Nevada, were arrested in their Moorpark home in
March 2005, after denying they were the owners of the Tiger. The Tiger had
been seen roaming the brush near the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library for
several weeks before it was killed by trackers.

Prosecutors have recommended that
58-year-old GertHedengran be sentenced to 14 months in prison and that
his 54-year-old wife receive four months of home detention, three years probation
and pay a fine.

(Photo courtesy
of NBC4) State wildlife
officials shot and killed a tiger roaming near a residential area in Moorpark.

(Photo
courtesy of NBC4) Wildlife official Troy Swauger said the tiger posed
a danger to the highway traffic on one side of the wooded area where it was
found and to the residential area on the other side of the woods

(Photo courtesy of NBC4)

(Photo
courtesy of NBC4)

(Photo courtesy of NBC4)

(Photo
courtesy of NBC4)

(Photo courtesy
of NBC4)

(Photo courtesy of NBC4)

(Photo courtesy of NBC4)

(Photo courtesy of Baron Bros. Nursery)The
big cat's paw prints had been spotted for weeks before the tiger was found.